Popular romance is one of the most successful literary genr
es in the world. The romance novels feature a central love story and a h
appy ending and they are mostly written and read by women. Characteristi
c of popular romance is its low status\; the genre is not only perceived
as &rdquo\;lowbrow&rdquo\; but often also as stereotypical and conserva
tive in its depictions of love and gender relations. Terms such as &rdqu
o\;trash\,&rdquo\; &rdquo\;porn\,&rdquo\; and &rdquo\;garbage&rdquo\; ar
e frequently used to describe the genre\, and fear and concern is expres
sed for the presumed easily-influenced consumers.

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In her PhD T
hesis in Gender Studies\, Enahanda l&auml\;sning: en queer tolkning av r
omancegenren\, Elin Abrahamsson makes this derogatory view on popular ro
mance her point of departure\, to examine why women&rsquo\;s reading of
romantic fiction is perceived as threatening. Her empirical material con
sists of the popular book- and film-series Twilight and Fifty Shades of
Grey.